News & Events

by
nmohan
November 29, 2017

US Ignite, Inc., is thrilled to announce five additional communities to our Smart Gigabit Communities (SGC) program roster: Eugene-Springfield, Oregon; Lexington, Kentucky; Lincoln, Nebraska; Red Wing, Minnesota; and San Francisco Bay Area, California. Each of these communities brings a new and diverse perspective to our growing SGC network. The community teams will focus on their own community challenges and opportunities, and each will share its applications and services build atop next-generation, ultra-high-speed computer networks with the other Smart Gigabit Communities.

US Ignite’s SGC program is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which has long been a leader in supporting fundamental research to equip U.S. cities and communities with more responsive and adaptive technologies and services. US Ignite’s SGC program has grown rapidly over the last year, connecting communities around the world. From Adelaide, Australia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, we are witnessing the next generation of smart communities emerge before our eyes.

To mark the addition of these five communities to our network, we’d like to share what each community leader is saying about joining the SGC program.

Eugene-Springfield, Oregon - “We are thrilled to add Eugene-Springfield to the map of Smart Gigabit Communities,” said Eugene Oregon Mayor Lucy Vinis. “Our expanding gigabit capacity and amazing community partners have made this possible—supporting and championing local innovations and new gigabit applications for education, healthcare, transportation and advanced manufacturing. Joining the SGC program allows us to foster and accelerate all of these efforts and support our next generation of entrepreneurs, innovators, artists, and educators.”

Lexington, Kentucky - “We are ecstatic to join US Ignite’s network of Smart Gigabit Communities,” said Lexington Mayor Jim Gray. “Lexington’s vast community of innovators and technologists combined with the support and resources of US Ignite will without a doubt produce unparalleled innovations in the coming months and years that will positively benefit the lives of Lexington residents.”

Lincoln, Nebraska - “Bold ideas, like Ignite-Lincoln and the Lincoln Broadband Project, are fuel for innovation and progress,” said Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler. “This public-private partnership creates the digital infrastructure that gives our entrepreneurs and students high-speed internet, supercomputer access to researchers and other innovators across the nation to build next-generation technology.”

Red Wing, Minnesota - “We value the partnership we have built with US Ignite over the past four years, and we are honored to receive this new opportunity for our region,” said Neela Mollgaard, Executive Director of Red Wing Ignite and Community Leader of the SGC program. “The added resources and connections throughout the country will elevate our efforts in Minnesota.”

City Innovate Foundation representing San Francisco Bay Area, California - “Smart communities and the Internet of Things are a set of modern digital technologies, civic innovations and social changes that have come together to create the opportunity to drive fundamental changes in government, business and society,” said Kamran Saddique, Executive Director, City Innovate Foundation. “Our participation in the US Ignite Smart Gigabit Community network will help us to leverage these technologies to enhance the quality of life for the San Francisco Bay Area.”

Funded by NSF under award 1531046, the SGC program is a collaboration among US Ignite, universities, municipalities, community anchor institutions like hospitals and schools, nonprofits, network carriers and ISPs. Together, we are focused on developing smart gigabit applications that address local community needs in areas such as education, agriculture, workforce development, public safety, community health, energy and transportation.

We look forward to seeing what the new community teams achieve in the months ahead. Communities and their sponsors interested in learning more about the SGC program and how to join are encouraged to email: [email protected]

About US Ignite, Inc.

US Ignite, Inc. spurs the creation of next-generation applications and services that leverage advanced networking technologies to build the foundation for smart communities. The nonprofit organization helps to accelerate new wired and wireless networking advances from research to prototype to full-scale smart community and interconnected national deployments. US Ignite, Inc.’s Smart Gigabit Communities program accelerates the adoption of ultra-fast, programmable fiber and wireless networks as the bedrock of smart communities by identifying new economic and social opportunities created by those networks. US Ignite, Inc., together with Northeastern University, also now operates the National Science Foundation-funded Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) Project Office (PPO), coordinating a $100 million public-private partnership of federal agencies and over 30 leading companies and technology associations supporting the deployment of wireless research platforms in multiple communities across the United States. Together, these collaborative efforts among research universities, local communities and industry will yield breakthroughs in new wired and wireless networking technology. The applications and services that result from this work will help enrich residents’ lives while generating improved, potentially transformative, community services, investment in high-growth startups, and high-skilled jobs.Media Contact: Caitlin ScottFull Court Press Communications510-550-8176[email protected]